Sue Field, UNE PhD.I candidate

Sue Field is a #UNELaw PhD.I student. She recently presented her PhD.I research at UNE’s Postgraduate Conference.

After years of teaching elder law, Sue took the plunge into a PhD.I. The title of her PhD.I research is “The teaching of Elder Law – A practical approach for students and multi-disciplinary practitioners”.

The “I” in PhD.I stands for Innovation, and Sue is an advocate for change. She is developing a comprehensive model for teaching Elder Law to a variety of stakeholders in the wider community; rather than solely to law students and lawyers. This is based on her experience that Elders are rarely asked the following questions, and when they are it is usually too late: Where am I going to live?; Who am I going to live with?; What am I going to live on?; and, Who can make decisions for me if I am unwilling or unable to make them myself?

Her hypothesis is: “… these questions are not asked … because of the paucity of knowledge amongst the professionals and the community about the legal issues that impinge on the lives of older people and therefore without this knowledge the relevant questions are not asked.”

Sue’s aim is to fill the current gaps in the education of students, professionals and the community.

In T3, 2020, Sue debut the electi

ve unit Elder Law. It was very popular. Stay tuned for the next time it is offered.

All Postgraduate Conference presentations were recorded and will be released soon.

The Vice Chancellor, Professor Heywood, opens UNE’s PhD Conference